BBC Plots 'Dublin Murders' With 'Room' Producer

The eight-part series will bring to life Tana French's 'The Dublin Murder Squad' crime novel series.

The BBC will bring to screen the works of Irish crime novelist Tana French.

The Dublin Murders, announced Wednesday, will be an eight-part series drawn from French's first two books in the Dublin Murder Squad series, In the Woods and The Likeness, with Sarah Phelps (Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None, J.K. Rowling's The Casual Vacancy) adapting.

Set to screen on BBC One, The Dublin Murders is being produced by Euston Films, Veritas Entertainment Group and Element Pictures, the powerhouse Irish production house behind Room and The Lobster.

"Tana’s compelling novels are both nail-biting thrillers, enquiries into the nature of evil and heartbreaking stories of human frailty, love and loss," said Phelps. "I couldn’t be more excited to be bringing The Dublin Murders to audiences."

Each book in the Dublin Murder Squad series focuses on a different detective from the same team. More than 1 million copies of In the Woods have been sold, with French having been described as the "first lady" of Irish crime.

"Sarah has brought Tana’s haunting stories to life with depth, flair and a deft touch of the modern gothic," said Piers Wenger, controller of BBC drama, who commission the series alongside BBC director of content Charlotte Moore. "More psychological thriller than police procedural, expect them to become a huge talking point on BBC One.”

The Dublin Murders will be exec produced by Kate Harwood and Sarah Phelps for Euston Films, Alan Gasmer and Peter Jaysen for Veritas Entertainment Group, Ed Guiney for Element Pictures, and Elizabeth Kilgarriff for the BBC.

Filming is set to start next year in Belfast and Dublin, with casting announced in due course.

FremantleMedia International will handle international distribution.

French is repped by APA and Darley Anderson Literary Agency in the U.K.